Some of you may have seen me tweet about a problem getting to Melbourne airport this morning. Here’s the full story.
Kevin and I were booked on the shuttle service that advertises hotel runs “from $15” from the airport. In our case the cost was a bit more — $35 return each — but it was a lot cheaper than a cab. On Sunday we phoned up and booked our return trip for an 11:05am flight. We were told we’d be picked up at 9:00am.
By 9:10am we were getting a bit worried, so we phoned the shuttle company and were directed to the small print on the ticket which said they might be up to 20 minutes late. This was not disastrous, but we did have things to do at the airport before checking in, and had we known about this we would have booked an earlier pickup.
By 9:25am there was still no sign of the shuttle, and the hotel staff were clearly concerned. We took a cab, which cost us $52. We passed what we think was the shuttle van shortly after leaving the hotel, so we might have been OK had we waited, but we could not take the chance.
As it was we got to the airport on time, and the queues were short, but we were not pleased. If you are still in Melbourne and are booked with that company I suggest you tell them that your flight is at least half an hour earlier than it actually is.
sTRUTH! As I understand that they say in the Australasian Colonies.
Ah well if I were sufficiently Ambitious as to risk International long distance travel with my spinal condition I suspect that I’d be taken out of the plane on a stretcher and I don’t like to think of the cost of medical insurance or relish the task of explaining my prescribed pain killers to the Powers That Be.
If you are unfamiliar with the Gentle Jazz singing of Stacy Kent then I do recommend her recent album ..” ” Breakfast on the Morning Train ” lots of songs for the adventurous Traveler .. may be available on those down-loadable mp3 thingies via your i pad … though my copy is on the Good Old Fashioned C.D.
Songs about places that you haven’t been to …. Yet.
I had a much better experience getting from the airport to my hotel and back, because I guess I ignored all the pre con advice. I went to the tourist help counter, after clearing, and asked about the best way to get to my hotel, The Grand Hotel Melbourne. They hooked me up with an A$20 return trip.
Return booking required a “24 hour” notice. Because both they and I were paranoid about arriving early enough for an international flight,
I got an 08:10 pickup time. Well they were quite late, about 30 minutes, but were there in plenty of time for my 11:20 departure time.
George
I live in Melbourne and have had to use the shuttle on more than a couple of occasions and each time found it to be nothing but fantastic. I’m sorry it looked like you guys caught them on an off day. I hope this doesn’t colour your opinion of melbourne in the future.
Mike: It certainly won’t color my opinion of Melbourne. I lived there for 2 years and love the place. It does, however, color my opinion of that shuttle company. A responsible company would give refunds if they are late and they mess up your travel plans.